Ski boot carrier and straightener



Aug. 14, 1956 G. B WOOD ET AL 2,758,325

SKI BOOT CARRIER AND STRAIGHTENER Filed oct. 25: 1951 mmww @and @Weed United States Patent Oce 2,758,325 Patented Aug. 14, 1956 SKI BOOT CARRIER AND STRAIGHTENER Gerald B. Wood and Plummer W. Leamond, Claremont, N. H., assignors to Leager Manufacturing Company, Claremont, N H.

Application October 25, 1951, Serial No. 253,123

'1 Claim. (Cl. 12-120.5)

This invention relates to a carrier for ski boots, equally serviceable in that capacity whether the boots are wet or dry; but having particular utility when the boots are wet since in that case it not only serves as a convenient carrier but clamps the soles of the boots so that they will dry naturally in a ilat or plane position.

It is well known that ski boots, in order to give serviceable performance, must be dried with the soles held at, but heretofore no practicable way has been devised for clamping them flat at the skiing area and maintaining them in this condition until they are dry. The usual procedure has been to change the boots for dry shoes at the earliest opportunity and to carry the boots by the laces until they could be stuffed wtih paper and dried. While this paper stufling has not been sutcient to straighten out the soles completely it has in practice been the only method available, since other methods of holding the soles iiat have been so cumbersome as to preclude their use in the ski area. This is particularly true where the ski area is far distant from the home of the skier and could be used only for a day at a time, since under these conditions the bulk and convenience of any auxiliary equipment is of extreme importance.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple and light weight ski boot carrier to which a pair of ski boots may be clamped simultaneously, with a minimum of manipulation and under adverse conditions, and which thereafter will carry both boots in a balanced condition and with their soles clamped perfectly at. Additional objects will appear from the following specification and claim.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of the carrier and straightener with two ski boots clamped in place, one of the boots being broken away to save space;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view thereof with the boots removed;

Fig. 3 is a median section through the carrier and straightener, substantially on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 but on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a detail of a modification of a portion of Fig. 3, on a still further enlarged scale.

The carrier comprises a board somewhat longer and preferably slightly wider than the boots 11 which are to be carried. This board preferably has a handle hole 12 near one end, positioned beyond the toes of the boots in order to get the best balance. At the heel end of the boots a pair of blocks 13 are commonly secured as by bolts or rivets 14 to the board and to each other at aligned positions, the blocks being shown recessed at 15 so that the bolts or rivets 14 will not project. The forward ends of the blocks 13 are concave and wedgeshaped at 16 so as to engage the grooves 17 in the heels of the boots in which the rear part of the ski harness ts.

lto

A pair of toe clamps 18 are secured together forwardly of the boots by a bolt 19 passing through a longitudinally extending slot 20 in the board and provided with a wing nut 21 by which they may be drawn together. The clamps have extensions 22 positioned to overlie the soles of the boots at the toe end, and may be left free for pivotal movement as in Fig. 3 or may have pins 23 or other forms of guides extending into the .slot'20 so that they are restricted to a substantially forward and back motion prior to clamping.

To grip the boots the board is preferably held vertically and the heels of thc two boots engaged one by one with the wedge-shaped ends 16 of the blocks 13. The toes of the boots can now be grasped between the thumb and fingers of one hand and pressed together and against the board (the latter having been made only slightly Wider than the boots to permit this) and then the clamps 18 can be slid downwardly with the other hand until their extensions 22 overlie the boot soles. By tightening the Wing nut 21 the boots are held firmly to the board and may be carried securely by grasping the handle hole 12. Even more important, however, is the fact that by the same tightening of a single Wing nut which secures both boots to the board and soles of both boots are forced into flat form and held in that shape as long as they remain on the board. If the boots are attached to the board at the ski area they have their soles flattened by the same operation, and can be left in this condition without further attention until they are again to be put on with full assurance that they will be in perfect shape at that time.

What we claim is:

A ski boot carrier and straightener comprising a support member having a pair of opposed flat boot engaging surfaces on said member of a length greater than the length of the boots to be mounted thereon, said member having a handle hole adjacent one end thereof, a boot heel engaging element mounted upon each of said surfaces adjacent the end of said member opposite said handle hole, means commonly securing said elements to said support member at aligned positions thereon, heel engaging portions on said elements facing said one end of said support and adapted to engage the heel of the boot and wedge the heel against the associated boot engaging surface of said support, said support member having a longitudinally eX- tending slot therethrough at a location intermediate said heel engaging elements and said handle hole, a boot toe engaging element mounted upon each of said boot engaging surfaces, guide means projecting from each of said toe engaging elements into said slot, a bolt commonly extending through each of said toe engaging elements and said slot, and a wing nut on said bolt for drawing said toe engaging elements toward said opposed boot engaging Surfaces.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 374,023 Watts Nov. 29, 1887 1,106,465 Loomis Aug. 11, 1914 2,467,625 Mayo Apr. 19, 1949 2,625,696 Dahl Ian. 20, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 209,100 Germany Apr. 21, 1909 311,926 Great Britain May 23, 1929 254,786 'A Switzerland May 3l, 1948 260,780 Switzerland Mar. 31, 1949 

